“Second goal killed us but Al Hilal deserved the win” – Branko Ivankovic

AFC – RIYADH, Persepolis coach Branko Ivankovic conceded his team lost all hope of advancing to the quarter-finals of the 2015 AFC Champions League once Al Hilal scored the second goal in their 3-0 win over the Iranians on Tuesday at the King Fahd International Stadium.

The Saudi side – finalists in last year’s competition – ran out 3-1 aggregate winners after Persepolis won the first leg 1-0 in Tehran, with veteran midfielder Mohammad Shalhoub putting Al Hilal ahead on aggregate after Yousef Al Salem had earlier levelled the scores.

“I want to thank my players who put in a strong performance in such a big match,” said the Croatian (pictured), who took over at the club in March. “We tried our best to make a good comeback after conceding the first goal but things were settled after the second goal of Al Hilal.”

Persepolis led after a late own goal from Al Hilal’s Brazilian defender Digao in the first leg at the Azadi Stadium and no one in a red shirt looked capable of finding the back of the net in a team that was largely set up to defend the lead.

Al Salem’s goal in the 29th minute rocked the Iranians, however, and when Shalhoub netted from the penalty spot three minutes before the hour mark, the game was all but up for Persepolis.

The Tehran club finally opened up in an attempt to pull themselves back into the tie but Abdulaziz Al Dawsari’s strike in stoppage time condemned Ivankovic’s side to defeat as Persepolis missed out on the quarter-finals once again.

“I want to congratulate Al Hilal and their fans for their win as they deserved to qualify to the next round,” said the former Iran national team coach. “I know Al Hilal very well but the reaction that I was looking for from my players was missing.

“Al Hilal are a strong team and they are one of the favourites to win the title as they reached the final of the competition last year.

“My knowledge of Al Hilal didn’t mean that we could beat them tonight and the players couldn’t achieve the result that we were looking for.”